by Calculated Risk on 12/14/2005 10:40:00 AM

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports: Refinance Applications Continue To Decline

Market Composite Index — a measure of mortgage loan application volume was 619.3 -- a decrease of 5.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 656.7, one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 8.1 percent compared with the previous week and was down 11.0 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The seasonally-adjusted Purchase Index decreased by 3.5 percent to 477.9 from 495.1 the previous week whereas the Refinance Index decreased by 9.7 percent to 1441.8 from 1596.4 one week earlier.

Click on graph for larger image.

The graph shows overall and purchase activity since June. Overall activity has fallen significantly due to the drop in refis. Purchase activity is steady.

Mortgage rates decreased slightly last week:

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.28 percent from 6.32 percent on week earlier ...

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.83 percent from 5.84 percent ...

Overall this report shows purchase activity is steady at a very high level.